34th edition – Leaders – Pike & Hurricane

A defector’s tale

Anna Bernard — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 20:01:06 +0000

On September the 22nd, UF Malmö members and others intrigued had a rare chance to sit down and hear the story of Mi Jin, a North Korean defector. The hall in Orkanen filled up with curiosity – the lived reality of people inside North Korea remains the great unknown of our time. The experiences of this woman, defecting from the totalitarian rule of one of the world’s most isolated countries, are unimaginable to most of us. She professed in a calm and composed manner the significance of determination and defiance in a battle from destitution to a position of advocacy.

The lecture “Inside North Korea” dealt with the reality of North Koreans’ lives and the Human Rights movement for North Korea. We also had the pleasure of having South Korean Eun Kyoung, Secretary General of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea, acting as interpreter for Mi Jin and sharing her own knowledge regarding the human rights violations found by the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry.

Life in North Korea

The story that Mi Jin shared with us was a narration riddled with hardship and perseverance under the strongman rule of a totalitarian regime. She faced personal loss and famine, overcame bigotry and was forced to endure seeing her young child work instead of study just to make ends meet. Eventually she exerted all the strength she could amass to be able to perform her mission impossible escape from the most isolated country in the world. She abandoned the regime, risking it all, to be able to provide a future defined by freedom to her daughter.

Mi Jin left escaped with her 14-year-old daughter in 2009, arriving in South Korea in January 2010 after traversing Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Mi Jin emphasized on several occasions that her daughter was the core reason for leaving, because their life defined by hardships became increasingly insecure after Mi Jin’s husband died when their daughter was only 10. At this point the daughter had to quit school in order to provide for the two remaining members of the family.

What chimed clearly throughout her recollections of her past in North Korea was the arduous everyday life; getting enough money to secure sufficient amounts of food was a perpetual battle, creating a situation where merely existing in the system was a daily fight for survival: “being employed does not mean anything in North Korea”, Mi Jin declared with contempt in her voice, having reminisced on her various jobs including an army-affiliated job and selling bread in the market.

A new life

The impetus for their plans to defect came when Mi Jin was almost detained by the officials. She reminisced with reticence how a police officer tried to “make trouble”, which led her into further problems. As Mi Jin was almost sent away to a prison camp she looked back at her life – she had always been a law-abiding citizen and a patriot. The constant influx of insecurities inflicted onto her life by the authorities seemed unscrupulous.

It is at this point that she took the required steps to commence her defection. She first explored the possibility of finding a Chinese broker who could sell them into China. Finding a broker who will sell a North Korean woman to a husband in China is a common way of defecting. However this plan did not take flight because she wanted to defect with her daughter, a factor that complicated issues. Thus she was forced to study the regimen of the border patrol squads to find a weak point in order to cross the border undetected.

And in this she managed, and she and her daughter fled the country into China. The perils, however, were not over, since they were forced to make their way out of China across several other countries, finally finding refuge in South Korea.

After settling in South Korea, Mi Jin has worked as a journalist in the South Korean online magazine, DailyNK, exploring the North Korean “ins-and-outs”. Her daughter, even after being so many years away from school, was welcomed by her South Korean peers and has reveled in her studies to the extent that she has been granted a scholarship to attend university in one of the most competitive societies in the world. Time after time, Mi Jin solemnly asserted with a smile on her face how incredibly proud she is of her daughter.

Advocating for change

There is something very impressive about hearing stories of the most vulnerable or marginalized people becoming strong advocates for their rights and the rights of others, trying to highlight an abusive situation in their home country while functioning as an influencer for positive change.

Mi Jin provided us with an insight into this kind of advocacy. Mi Jin and Eun Kyoung came to Malmö from Geneva to show us the power of evidence: the data derived from the monitoring of the UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry are critical for successful lobbying work.

Their visit showed us the power of relationship building – in this case engaging with the UN and other institutions and organizations. Both advocates make an effort to extend this relationship-building to potential future decision-makers and influencers which explains their eagerness to engage with students.

After the lecture some students had the opportunity to sit down with the guests for a more intimate conversation.

Mi Jin is an example to us all of co-operation of the media in raising awareness with the wider public while relentlessly telling the stories emanating from her North Korean informants still residing in the regime. Her disdain for the North Korean government became clear: advocates are able to and want to work, and it is their basic human right.

A leader cannot lead if nobody follows

Leadership takes many forms, and sometimes the underdog will go to the greatest lengths to advocate for real change. Mi Jin and Eun Kyoung’s cause, however venerable it is, requires not only their work and sacrifice, but it needs followers and support to gain momentum. On a number of occasions Mi Jin pointed out that there is too much focus on the North Korean leader, and not enough focus on the suffering and troubled everyday existence of the North Korean population. They are working to shift this focus, and we should be receptive for their plea.

By: Anna Bernard

Photo Credits

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Women’s Leadership in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zarifa Dag — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 19:45:25 +0000

What comes to your mind when you think of a “leader”?

For three women leading various organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ‘leadership’ is synonymous with patriarchy, rape and war crimes. Rape was a common practice for soldiers in the Bosnian War and more than a decade after the conflict, some feminists claim that the acts of rape were perpetrated as genocidal acts. Others argue that rape is a tool in every war zone and that every military action is sexist.

Despite the trauma from the past, the women leaders in Bosnia are in charge of organizations aiming to help women in the post-war areas in Bosnia.

Leadership as Patriarchal Dictatorship

For Amra Pandžo, Danka Zelić and Sehija Dedović the word ‘leadership’ is a word they despise as it reminds them of a powerful dictator, hierarchy and dominance, especially on females. Amra, Danka, and Sehija struggle to call themselves leaders, as archaic leadership in Bosnia lead to the humiliation of many innocent citizens by means of a genocide, or rather ethnic cleansing.

Amra is a muslim woman leading the ‘Small Steps’ peacebuilding organisation in Sarajevo, Danka is a Catholic and a former female police officer leading UG Grahovo, and Sehija is a muslim woman with formal theological education, leading Nahla(bee). These organisations promote women’s human rights, peacebuilding and settlement during and after war.

All three women have been prominent leaders within their organisations and claim that they had no intentions of becoming leaders and this progressed throughout the years and their initiative to defend human rights, and eventually they self-trained themselves for leadership roles within their communities.

Yet, Zilka Spahić Šiljak’s article ‘Women, Religion and Peace Leadership in Bosnia and Herzegovina ‘ states that for the three women the definition of a leader is, someone who knows how to persuade others on peace and having the vision, courage, and faith to act within their communities.

On the 11th of each month the Women of Srebrenica gather in the main square of Tuzla to stand in silent protest of their missing and dead men. Photo: The Advocacy Project

Humiliation – rape for being a woman or for ethnicity?

Rape is severe torture and aggression to the intimate self and the dignity of a human being.

The book “Mass Rape: The war against women in Bosnia-Herzegovina” describes how the ultimate torture that can be caused to a woman is by violently invading her inner space. This results in loss of dignity, shame, loss of identity, and self-determination or self-confidence.

Humiliation in this case is not only targeted at women but also at men. Women were a crucial target because women in many cultures are extremely important due to the perception of a woman as the pillar in family structure. Therefore rape became a different way of waging war between different ethnicities in general. Perpetrators ritualize rape as a means to show the men of the other ethnicity that they are incompatible and are not able to ‘protect their women’. On the other hand, many victims of wartime rape were not supported by their husbands neither as they were to blame and were ostracized by ending relationships. The women were silenced and never had the chance to fight for their rights.

Unfortunately, the UN did not acknowledge rape as a war crime until 2008. In wartime and among soldiers, rape has always been embedded. A typical excuse used to justify rape is that soldiers have been in the battlefield for an extensive period, leading to a situation where the men have urges to be fulfilled. And this is what we have come to accept – a common excuse.

Giving Women a Voice Again

Amra, Danka and Sehija use the ethics of religion to teach peacebuilding in their organisations. All three peacebuilders recognised the needs in their community, of which; deconstructing the media’s idea of Islam as a terrorism, submission and oppression, helping returnees to settle back in Bosnia, and including women in recognised organisations which are dominated by men. This has helped many women to regain their voices, as the peacebuilders did not want professional and experienced people to lead in their organisations, but wanted volunteers from all over Bosnia, to exchange knowledge and build support together.

Erasing women by traumatising them by war crimes such as rape is the same as erasing a community.

On the other hand, observing how Amra, Danja and Zehija work and strive for a better definition of leadership instills hope in their communities. This provides them a sense that Bosnia can become a better place than it was before the war. The world needs more of these prominent leaders, who use their traumas to teach others wisdom, and thus not letting their horrific experiences revolve into aggression and revenge.

This article is based on the article “Women, Religion and Peace Leadership in Bosnia and Herzegovina” by Zilka Spahić Šiljak and the books “Mass Rape: The war against women in Bosnia-Herzegovina” edited by Alexandra Stiglmayer and “Bosnia: A Short History” by Noel Malcolm.

By Zarifa Dag

Photo Credit:

Sarajevo, Béatrice BDM, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Women of Srebenica, The Advocacy Project, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Faces of Leadership around the World

EditorChief — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 19:29:00 +0000

Leadership can be interpreted in many ways and be portrayed in a variety of ways. We don’t always think of leadership when we pass by that statue on our way to a lecture or work. Nor do we think of it taking a picture of a monument when we are on vacation in another country. Once one actually views those places or images with the term leadership in mind, the perception can change entirely.

We have collected pictures from the Pike and Hurricane team to illustrate how leadership can be portrayed in different societal. The pictures speak for themselves and invoke various interpretations. Each of them has a different context. The only thing they have in common is that they portray leadership. You might disagree, be indifferent or agree on this.

The purpose of this photo collage is to let you question how you understand leadership. What are you seeing when you pass one of the monuments in your hometown? Who was this person immortalized in the monument and what have they done?

Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, US. Arguably one of the most significant leadership symbols or role models in the United States. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Over 700 years old Buddha statue, ruins in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Buddha today still significant symbol in Thailand. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

People’s Climate March, Washington DC, US, March against US President Donald Trump’s Climate policies. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Senate of Canada, Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. the Queen still has a throne at the far end of the Senate. Although she hasn’t visited in a long time it still remains reserved for her only or the sovereign in her place. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Queen Elizabeth the 2nd Statue, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada. The Queen even today remains the official Head of State of Canada. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

At the top center is the golden shield of Cusco, which is also the known as the coat of arms of Cusco. Below the shield is situated Pachacuti, the most formidable the Inca rulers. It is believed that he constructed the best stone structures of the Inca empire, including Machu Picchu. (Photo: Anna Marcella)

Statue of Martin Luther King Jr, as a part of the Monument of Peace and Reconciliation El Mozote, El Salvador 2014 (Photo: Anna Marcella)

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, as the first president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam played a vital role in the country becoming independent from France in 1945. To this day he is a prominent figure in Vietnam. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (His Majesty The King, Rama IX of Thailand), Bangkok, Thailand. After the passing of the Kind the entire country is still in a state of a one year mourning period until this October 2017. The king’s picture is displayed all over Bangkok and every government building in black in white drapes. (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Mao Zedong statue on Fudan Universities Campus in Shanghai, China. “Setting up statues of Mao Zedong has been a university campus tradition for decades”, said a spokesperson for the Beijing Morning Post. “The purpose of the statute is to encourage and give confidence to our teachers and instill national character and patriotism in our students.” (Photo: Anne Thurm-Meyer)

Protest against Trump and Theresa May’s perceived appeasement of him, January 2017. The protest sign shows Theresa May together with Donald Trump on the right side and Neville Chamberlain (British prime minister from 1937- 1940) at a meeting with Adolf Hitler (Photo: Merle Emrich)

The Statue of Liberty is a figure of a woman representing the Roman goddess Libertas. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States (Photo: Anna Marcella)

Памятник Солдату и Матросу, Soldier and Sailor Memorial
From Sevastopol, annexed to the Russian Federation but still considered by most UN member states as a city with special status within Ukraine (Photo: Anna Marcella)

Photo from “Little India” Penang, Malaysia. “Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked as patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.” (Photo: Anna Marcella)

By Anne Thurm-Meyer

Photo Credits:

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Social Reforms, Corruption and Missing People: The Telenovela of Bolivian Political Leadership

Julia Glatthaar — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 19:01:48 +0000

When we, the writers of Pike and Hurricane, decided on this month’s overall topic “leadership”, I instantly thought of the Bolivian president Juan Evo Morales Ayma who has always been a fascinating political figure to me.

Every time I hear his name, I get transferred back to the time I spent in Bolivia. Whether I was working in the school kitchen and listening to the radio, or walking down the steep streets of La Paz seeing graffiti’s of “Evo, sí”, “Evo, no” and “Evo presidente”- everything would be about Evo, or related to his politics, and of course the myths and scandals surrounding him.

Bolivia is a multicultural country situated in Latin America. It has 37 official languages and due to its unfortunate history, it is the only Latin country that does not have a direct access to the sea (you’re welcome, I know at some point during a pub quiz you will relish this piece of information).

The majority of the Bolivianos have indigenous background and Evo, who identifies himself as Aymara (one of the largest indigenous groups), was the first indigenous president ever to be elected in 2006. What makes this government even more special, is that it has been the first one to last for longer than just a few years, months or days.

Currently, Evo is serving his third of two terms, that are allowed by the constitution, and speculation hints that he will stick around for longer, even though a controversial referendum that took place on the so-called “day of lies” (día de la mentira) should keep him from doing so. You can read all about his political career, from a coca farmer to the president here.

By now, you can probably imagine that opinions on Evo tend to be very diverse; and believe me, everybody has an opinion on this man!

To give you an insight, I interviewed two of my friends David Crespo Godoy from Argentina, and Salomon Alberto Pinto Limpias from Beni- a small village in the Bolivian Amazonas.

The expression of the Bolivian pueblo

Alberto has been living in Germany since 2007, but he still is very much in touch with Bolivia and up to date with its political developments. When he talks about his country, he refers to it as the “pueblo boliviano”.

“Evo Morales has been a very good president for the Bolivian people- he is the expression of the Bolivian pueblo; he comes from a very small, rural village of farmers, he is very humble and has many characteristics that make him appealing”, says Alberto.

“For example, his Spanish is far from perfect, because it is not his first language; he had to learn it during his time in politics. However, over time, he also has forgotten most of his mother tongue. Many Bolivians – myself included – can relate to this situation being trapped between the values and traditions of our rich history and the modern world.”

Alberto living his daily life in Germany.

When asked about what has changed since Evo became president, he answered :

”Evo has managed to give Bolivia its dignity and identity back, he is teaching Bolivians democracy, their rights and their obligations. I have noticed how change has managed to pick up over time, we may be changing slowly, but there is a positive motion within our country. Schools and hospitals are being built, agriculture is changing from illegal coca farming to more sustainable crops, and people have found their hope again. The only thing we lack is professionals and experts that can advance this change.”

“I have voted for this government and I would vote for Evo again, if I get the chance. I am not ignorant towards his faults, but Evo is what Bolivia needs right now – a long-lasting, steady and stable government. I believe Evo will run again and that he will remain our president, because he is the true candidate of our people. If the Bolivian pueblo wants him again as a president, he will offer his services again. It will be the decision of the Bolivian people, not of the president. I think that if it were not for the scandals and false allegations, the opposition had spread, Evo would have won the referendum.”

Alberto then further explained his point of view regarding the opposition and the current political situation:

“I feel that our opposition is not offering constructive criticism of our government and in the event of coming to power they would destroy everything Evo has managed to establish. If they were to come to power, they would take away every social programme that we have fought for so long.

The government has its faults, but Evo is the best person to represent my people and he is the person we need to keep on making positive changes and to keep our positive image in the international community”

Scandals and corruption

David Crespo Godoy is from Argentina and he is an international management consultant who has lived in the US, Europe, Asia and Central America. He did a consultancy in Bolivia from October 2003 to May 2006 and then he went back in October 2012 and has lived there ever since. When we got to know each other, he was living in Tarija, a town in South Bolivia.

A photo of David while in Jerusalem.

You can read the full interview in Spanish here. But I will provide you with the most important issues we talked about.

“Originally, since the inauguration of Evo, the image of Bolivia improved a lot in the international community. Although, due to Evo indirectly supporting narcotrafficking, he has lost some of his popularity. And this loss of popularity can also be seen within Bolivia.

Even though Evo has managed to make positive changes, his government also has its dark side and is involved in serious corruption and money fraud schemes through front businesses. People have started to realise this, which is why he lost the referendum”, David said. When I asked him about all the scandals surrounding Evo, he merely answered:

“I think that his government invented the scandal regarding Zapata [former girlfriend of Morales, ed.] and the lost son, reeling the attention of the public eye to something that would not have serious damage to Evo’s image.”

However, David also concurred that many positive changes have taken place since Evo took office:

“Some of the positive changes I have noticed in Bolivia since 2006 are that there is now a regular work day and the minimum wage which people with few exceptions are receiving- a salary of 2000 Bolivianos (~290 US$) per month, that the gap between the rich and the poor has started to close, and that the government offers a variety of services to all citizens, that traditionally only rich people had access to.”

“If the government invested more into small family businesses- that make up 80% of all businesses here, if it focused on production areas apart from oil, gas and petrol, if it invested more efficiently in our education system, we would achieve a much faster change within Bolivia!”

“Another positive movement has been the new constitution of 2009. On the one hand, it has given many Bolivians the hope for a better life. On the other hand, it has lessened US influence in Bolivian politics, for example our parties were administered by the US government and they even got to define the leaders in our ministries. This has not been public, but it is known alike.”

However, there is a flipside to the Bolivian success story, according to David:

“Indeed I think that the biggest problem we face in our country is corruption – it starts in our daily life and goes up to our government and the fact that it controls our judiciary, forces conformity. Evo and his government have made it impossible to speak out against them by taking advantage of errors within our legal system, for example by not considering people going missing a crime and therefore will not search for them or start an investigation.”

“In October 2012 my father “disappeared”. At that time he had been involved in a legal process against the government, because they had confiscated one of his airplanes. When I started investigating, I made out that alongside him three more people had gone missing. And then, when I reported this to the Human Rights Commission, it dawned on me that my father was merely one of hundreds.”

“Due to my investigations, I was arrested by the military in June 2013 and accused of being a terrorist. That same day I had to negotiate with the government and make a deal: I had to leave the country and stop all further investigations. Furthermore, my father’s company was expropriated by the military.”

“Since then I went on a spiritual journey to come to peace with myself and the fact that my father alongside many others will never come back again.”

“I wanted to share my story to show some of the serious problems we are facing with the Bolivian government.”

By Julia Glatthaar

Photo Credit:

Photo 1 by Kris Krüg, Celebration Dinner with Bolivian President Evo Morales – Colomi – Bolivia CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Switzerland: A State Run by 8 Million People?

Judith Roos — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 16:18:40 +0000

Is it not spread all over the world that Switzerland is well organised, has a good and stable government and the population of 8 million feels safe and respected? Switzerland works with elements of a direct democracy. The uniqueness of this structure gives every Swiss citizen a lot of power. But how does the Swiss democracy work exactly? And does this democracy hold what it promises?

A new member of the Federal Council

On the first of November, a new member of the Federal Council – the head of Switzerland – will start working for the state. Just at the end of September, the parliament decided that it will be Ignazio Cassis who will replace a resigning member.

7 Federal Councillors – 7 different opinions

Apart from this emerging newest Swiss Italian member, there are six other Federal Councillors from varying political backgrounds.

The diversity of Swiss politics does not end in party affiliations: at the moment, the Federal Council consists of four Councillors from the German part and three councils from the Swiss French part. On the first of November, Ignazio Cassis will replace one of the councils from the French part.

And this is what makes Cassis a special person and worth mentioning.

The multilingual government of Switzerland

The new member of the Federal Council comes from the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, is a native Italian speaker, and originally had dual citizenship of Italy and Switzerland. Cassis decided to give up his Italian citizenship to become fully Swiss. The success of Cassis is also a success for the Italian Swiss region as they feel more represented in the government.

Even more importantly, the Federal Council is now finally again following an important basic law – the Constitution. The Swiss constitution declares that every language region ought to be “appropriately” represented in the Federal Council.

A look at the map shows all 26 cantons (the black lines) and all five language regions in Switzerland (the different colours). The green, the Italian part, is not big, but deserves representation in the federal assembly. With the election of Ignazio Cassis, an 18-year trend of having a Federal council without a representative of the Italian part has finally come to an end.

The Federal Assembly: the heart of the Swiss policy

So far, there has not been one single word about the Swiss population, except in the title, of course. More than time to ask ourselves: what is the role of the Swiss citizens and how can they decide about anything?

Given these points, you should therefore know about the National Council and the Council of States. Together with the Federal Council, they build the Swiss parliament, called “The Federal Assembly”.

They are the bridge that links the population and the Federal Council, as they represent the people and cantons. As mentioned in the very beginning, Switzerland is federalistic. The power is shared by the Confederation (the Federal Council, Switzerland’s head with its seven members), the cantons (see them on the map), and the communes.

This explains why all the cantons must be represented. Each canton sends two representatives to the Council of states. These two representatives are directly decided by citizens of each canton.

So do the representatives in the National Council. As distinct from the Council of states, the National Council represents not the cantons but the commune. These representatives are also directly decided by the electors. As a rule of thumb, each canton may send one elected representative to the National Council for roughly every 40,000 inhabitants. That makes 200 National Councillors for the whole country.

The Federal Assembly passes laws, talks about changes, and it is also the Federal Assembly that elected Ignazio Cassis, the new member of the Federal Council.

The three rights

Every Swiss citizen, of 18 years or older, has three basic rights.

The right of the mandatory referendum means that every planned change in the constitution has to be put to a nationwide popular vote. Without the agreement of at least 50% of all Swiss voters, nothing can be changed in this legal foundation.

The popular initiative allows everybody to launch a political debate of a specific issue. As an example: A Swiss student thinks, he wants to have free coffee in every university, freely available all around the clock. He can then hand in 100 000 signatures of voters for the proposal, collected within 18 months. It then comes to a national vote and could actually become a law for every university.

If the parliament wants to change a law, the Swiss population has two choices. If they do nothing, the new law will be passed. If the Swiss voters take action, by using the right of the optional referendum, it can change everything. For a national vote about the new law, 50 000 valid signatures from possible voters must be collected within 100 days of publication of the new legislation.

The referendum can therefore be used when the parliament has already decided on something that the population does not want.

And what if the population does not want Ignazio Cassis, the new member of the Federal Council?

A state run by the Federal Assembly and the population

As all members of the Federal Assembly are part of the population, there are in fact not 8 million people that contribute for a functioning state but all people that are able to vote. Since measured in 2010, about five million people have the right to vote on every single election for National Council, Council of States and votings.

Altogether, it is quite busy to be a voter in Switzerland. There are votings four times a year. Every fourth year, the Federal Assembly (National Council, Council of states and Federal Council) is being renewed.

Did the people also get to vote about Ignazio Cassis? This is not in the hands of the population, not even by utilizing the optional referendum. As strange as it sounds, it has a simple explanation: The Federal Council should be elected by the entire country and not by individuals. By voting for the National Council and Council of States, the Swiss population decides about who represents the country – in the hope that they hold what they promise.

All things considered, Switzerland is not run by 8 million people, but by exactly 253 heads that discuss the small country in the middle of Europe. Swiss people have a lot of power, but to a limited extent.

At least they would have the chance to vote for free coffee in offices and universities.

By Judith Roos

Photo Credit:

Swiss Flag, Alex Sinclair, CC BY 2.0

Ignazio Cassis, Swiss Federal Council, CC BY-SA 3.0

Swiss Regions, Tschubby, CC BY SA-3.0

The Federal Council, Swiss Federal Council, CC BY-SA 3.0

Swiss Coffee, Felipe Barriga, CC BY-NC 2.0

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Ashin Wirathu: One Man Triggering Ethnic Conflict

Ida Scharla Løjmand — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 13:10:04 +0000

The violence against Myanmar’s Rohingyas is nothing new. For more than three years, the media has reported about attacks and hate speech against the Muslim minority and criticized Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize-winner, for her silence on what the UN has deemed “the fastest-growing refugee emergency in the world today”.

However, Aung San Suu Kyi is not the only leader the world should look at in connection with the rohingya ethnic cleansing in Myanmar – even since 2014, international media have had their eyes on the Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu from Mandalay, who has been described by, for instance, The Guardian and Time as a driving force of the violence against Myanmar’s Rohingyas.

He leads a monastery in Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar and the home of more than 2500 Buddhist monks. Already in 2014, AJ+ explained how Wirathu preaches hatred against the Muslims in Myanmar and how his popularity increased along with his radicalism.

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Photo: Jordi Bernabeu Farrús

“Protecting” his country

Wirathu himself claims to merely protect his country.

“I am defending my loved one,” he said in an article from The Guardian in May this year. ”Like you would defend your loved one. I am only warning people about Muslims. Consider it like if you had a dog, that would bark at strangers coming to your house – it is to warn you. I am like that dog. I bark.”

And he barks loudly. A quick google-search on his name generates loads of news articles connecting him to the violence against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

However, there are also voices claiming that these depictions of him are false. A website supporting his anti-Muslim 969 Movement – however, admitting to have no official connection to Ashin Wirathu or the Movement itself – rejects Time Magazine’s description of Wirathu as “the face of Buddhist terror” and describes him as treating “all people with fairness” and as someone who has started “campaigns to support Buddhists in his country and around the globe.”

The power of social media

On Facebook, several pages connected to Ashin Wirathu appears when one types in his name. Which one is his official site is hard to tell but several are fairly popular and in favor of the openly anti-Muslim monk. One page shares, for instance, articles criticizing the Western media’s discourse on him and the violence in Myanmar. The page has 9345 likes and 9525 followers. Another one with the name Wira Thu has even more followers; 413,419,and has been active as recently as this September. Even for readers who cannot read Burmese, pictures with the text “No Rohingya in Myanmar” speak for themselves.

So, even if Wirathu denies encouraging the violence against the Rohingyas, he is clearly an influential leader, who openly accuses the Muslim population of Myanmar of imposing a threat to the country and aiming to “build up an islamic state.”

Even though only 5 percent of Myanmar’s 54 million people are Muslim, people listen to Wirathu.

In a video reportage from AJ+, another Buddhist monk admits that “every race has good and bad people. Those who use violence and those who don’t.” However, he adds: “But Muslims are mostly violent.”

Like many others, he believes that Wirathu will protect Myanmar from the Muslims.

However, there are also Buddhist who do not support Wirathu’s aggressive rhetorics. Another monk from Mandalay takes his distance from the so-called “the face of Buddhist terror” but he is still worried what Wirathu and other people’s hate speech against Muslims in Myanmar can lead to: “If there are those who spread rumours, those of unsound minds would be inspired to act rash without thinking,” he explains to AJ+.

But despite this critique, Wirathu and his hateful words apparently hold a big group of monks and other Buddhists in a tight grip consequently inflaming the ethnic conflict in Myanmar.

By Ida Scharla Løjmand

Photo Credit:

AK Rockefeller, CC BY-SA 2.0

Jordi Bernabeu Farrús, CC BY 2.0

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Merkel: The Neverending Story

Merle Emrich — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:56:42 +0000

On September 18, 2005, Angela Merkel (CDU: Christian Democratic Union) was elected German chancellor for the first time. Now, twelve years later, the German people have declared their trust in her once more despite controversial debates as for example over Merkel’s handling of the refugee crisis which splits the country, and despite critical voices within and outside the CDU calling for change.

But how can we explain Angela Merkel’s success? Is it popularity that keeps Merkel in power? Is it a sheer lack of acceptable alternatives? Or are there subtler underlying reasons that motivated so many to vote for her? And if so, where will we be able to find those reasons?

World Politics

If we look at current world politics we might be able to find reasons for Angela Merkel’s re-election there. Next to leaders such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the German chancellor embodies a vision of stability, moderate policies and security. In the past, she has proved herself a manager of crises: be it the Euro crisis, holding up the dialogue with Russia, or her response to the refugee crisis (even though it has split the party and the people). These crises have strengthened Merkel’s position and her voters seem to believe that she is able to handle the present crises and those that will surely come in the near future. She offers equilibrium at a time of uncertainty.

With Brexit, an increased risk of terrorism and the conflict between the United States and North Korea, we live in times of instability and insecurity. Therefore many people prefer not to take any risks or to make ‘experiments’ on the national level by voting for change in government. They rather stick to what (or whom) they already know and consider to be at least acceptable.

Merkel and Schulz

The line between the CDU and the SPD (Social Democrats) is blurred. And the SPD having been the Christian Democrats’ junior partner during the last legislative period did not help either. Because SPD has been a part of the coalition government with CDU and directly involved in active decision-making processes for the last four years, they have difficulties criticising the CDU without criticising themselves. Therefore, it seems that the Social Democrats are not different enough from the Christian Democrats. Martin Schulz, who had been the President of the European Parliament for five years (2012-2017) and then became the SPD’s chancellor candidate in this year’s election, does not seem to differ much from Angela Merkel. Thus the election campaign does not polarise the people, and so the people keep voting for the CDU.

Refugees and security have been important topics during the election campaign, especially in the media and there is very little distinction in the Social Democrats’ and the Christian Democrats’ policy regarding those issues: both warn of a repetition of the 2015 refugee crisis, both want to strengthen the police force and plan of having more surveillance cameras in public places.

But not only have the two parties moved closer together politically, already during the 2013 election campaign the CDU had left the SPD standing without one of their goals – the minimum wage – by taking on the topic themselves. This year then Merkel managed to escape the pressure the CDU had been put under by the SPD and the opposition through making a vote on same-sex marriage possible in parliament before the election.

Coalition and Consensus

Angela Merkel’s strategy of using other parties’ political agenda to gain the support of the people is perhaps her greatest asset against the other parties.

And it was not only the minimum wage and same-sex marriage. When, after the catastrophe of Fukushima, she made a U-turn in the party’s energy policy by turning away from nuclear energy and promoting renewable energies, the chancellor left the Green Party without a cause and we saw them plummet in the polls.

Merkel appears to take the majority as her guideline. She lets other politicians lead the debates and then steps in when an opinion has formed among the people and there already is a rough consensus. She absorbs different positions in order to embody this consensus, and thus makes opposition highly difficult and forms a coalition – which is inevitable – with almost every other party possible.

In addition, she promises nothing that she cannot keep, or as the German news satire show “Heute show” put it: “We promise nothing. But that we keep.” Merkel does not offer a vision of the future but her voters know that the future is far too unpredictable to predict, anyway.

Angela Merkel and the CDU After the Elections

Now, after the election, the development of German politics and Merkel’s career as chancellor will certainly be interesting. Shortly after the results of the election had come in the SPD declared that they would be part of the opposition for the next four years which could have three possible results. Should the CDU/CSU not be able to form a coalition with another party there might be new elections which would likely lead to the Christian Democrats losing more votes and parties such as Die Linke (“The Left”), but also the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD, “Alternative for Germany”) gaining votes. Yet, this outcome is very unlikely. The other option would be a minority government. This, too, would be far from profiting Angela Merkel and the CDU since they would have to govern without a majority of seats in parliament.

The most likely outcome is a coalition of CDU/CSU, FDP (Free Democrats) and the Green Party. While this would provide a working government, it would still not be easy since the parties’ policies concerning certain issue areas such as pension and environment differ from one another in various points, even within the CDU and CSU (the CDU’s Bavarian sister party).

Never Ending Story?

But whatever the outcome of the coalition negotiations will be, fact is that Angela Merkel has been elected for the fourth time in a row. It is likely to be due partly to her adopting other parties’ aims and leaving them without that part of their agenda that sets them apart from the CDU.

Another cause is, to a certain extent, a great part of the German people feeling that security, stability, continuity and a certain degree of predictability are needed at the moment. Especially in comparison with other powerful leaders such as Trump, Putin and Erdogan, Merkel seems to embody those values and appears to many as the best candidate to manage our crises – present or future.

But as the German psychologist Stephan Grünewald pointed out: the standstill agreement of “I make sure that you’ll be fine, but please no questions” won’t work forever. And the seemingly never ending story of Chancellor Merkel might come to an end as abrupt as the era of Kohl who had been chancellor for 16 years until the general election in 1998.

Now, she has four years time to prove Grünewald wrong, to be the competent crisis manager the people describe her as, and to maintain “a Germany in which we live well”.

By Merle Emrich

Photo Credit:

Angela Merkel, James Rea, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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Under Pressure: Right-Wing Party AfD Moves into the German Parliament

Annika Müller — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:38:45 +0000

“The AfD will hunt Merkel down. We will reclaim our country and our people”, is what party representative Alexander Gauland proclaimed in reaction to his party’s success in the German parliament election. The AfD (“Alternative für Deutschland”- engl. “Alternative for Germany”) gained 12.6% of all votes, making them the third-biggest fraction in the German parliament. For the first time in 50 years, a party to the right of the Christian-Democratic Union – lead by Angela Merkel – will move into the parliament. How long will the party’s success last?

From protest movement to popular opposition

The AfD was formed in Berlin in 2013 as a “party and citizens’ movement against the undemocratic and unjust arbitrariness”, as they put it on their website. Only a year later, they gained 7 seats in the European Parliament, as well as access to regional governments in Germany.

The party gained publicity through their controversial, conservative stances on issues such as the European Union, marriage equality for homosexual couples, immigration and asylum. In detail, the party advocated for Germany to leave the European Union, fully opposes gay rights – despite providing an openly lesbian woman as the chancellor candidate – and is continuously critical of Merkel’s refugee policy.

Now, the party is likely to become the new leader of the opposition. Werner Patzelt – political scientist working at University of Dresden, Saxony – highlights two main advantages of being the opposition leader in the German parliament: Being in charge of the chairmanship of the Committee of Budgets, as well as the right to be the first respondent to parliament decisions. Therefore, the AfD might be prone to gain even more political influence and also more publicity.

Power to persist?

What kind of policies is the AfD likely to push now that they gained a considerable amount of legislative power? According to NPR, one of the party’s main goals is the complete closure of the German border to refugees and immigrants, including the prohibition of subsequent immigration of family members, which up until now was possible for immigrants with a residence permit.

Moreover, the party favors the ban of headscarves and strongly advocates for Germany’s withdrawal from the Eurozone. However, party representative and election campaign manager Alexander Gauland failed to give concrete answers when asked about plans concerning retirement and health care reforms, as reported by the “Berliner Zeitung”.

DESCRIPTION: Locals protesting AfD’s party convention in Cologne, partially waving flags of the German left party “Die Linke”. Their signs say “Racists in sheep’s clothing”, (from left to right) “We are one” and “AfD is not an alternative”. Credit: Elke Wetzig, Wikimedia Commons.

“Electoral breakthrough is different from electoral persistence”, highlights Cas Mudde, who works at the Center of Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, in his opinion piece about the AfD’s election success. Historically, it has been difficult for right-wing parties to not only establish a faction but also hold it together. Here it should be mentioned that no other German Party is willing to form a coalition with AfD, as NPR reported.

Moreover, Mudde states that AfD has a weak relationship to its voters, as the majority claim to be “against all other parties”, as opposed to voting for AfD out of sincere conviction. In addition, only 12 percent of the AfD-voters support chancellor candidate Alice Weidel, which makes her the least popular candidate within her own party and in all of Germany. Overall, Mudde doubts that the AfD will be a consistent force in the parliament.

Young party on shaky ground

Many political scientists, like Mudde in the referenced article above, predict that AfD will split into different, smaller groups as the legislative period progresses. In addition, one of AfD’s most famous party leaders – Frauke Petry – announced that she will not sit in the parliament as an AfD-representative, but as an independent representative, which was universally received as a surprise.

The voters themselves have heavily criticized the party for not clearly rejecting racist ideals and “distancing themselves from extreme positions”. In the eyes of their voters and even party members, it seems like AfD is failing to establish themselves as a real “alternative” to the established parties of the German political spectrum. Of course, frequent protests and public backlash against their conservative policies put pressure on the party as well.

AfD is a rather young party that began as a protest movement and turned into the third strongest force in the German parliament today. Their stances are controversial, which causes the party to face criticism from opposing parties and politicians, political activists and even within their own following. Whether they will be able to last in the German parliament, let alone successfully execute their ideas for policies, only time will tell.

By Annika Aries Müller

Photo credit:

AfD, Olaf Kosinsky, CC-BY-SA-3.0-DE

Köln stellt sich quer, Elke Wetzig, CC-BY-SA-4.0

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Environmental leadership: When doing good ends with death

monta.nitisa — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 22:19:05 +0000

Have you ever been in the situation when you have tried to help the other person but your input was not appreciated? Some environmental leaders in today’s world don’t end up appreciated for their effort. They end up dead.

Lives at stake

People who try to defend the environment are being killed at a rate of almost four a week all across the world. They mostly die in distant forests or villages. Only few killers are ever arrested but the ones who are identified are hired. And it is important to add that the actors behind the hired killings are corporations or state forces. Therefore, the cases are by nature problematic to investigate. In addition, many more environmental activists, who are trying to defend their land are threatened with death.

Environmental conflicts are not only becoming more and more common around the world but also more violent, say researchers. Global corporations are seeking poor countries for having an access to property and resources because these countries usually do not have strong law enforcement and are more corruptible.

Defenders tend to seek help from governments but it is not rare that a corrupt government is involved with violence, which makes the magic cycle of environmental conflict endless. Authorities usually fail to protect the courageous men and women who should be lauded as heroes for risking their lives to protect the environment and the rights of others.

Environmental activism in Latin America

One of the most intense situations is in Latin America which is still the most deadly region when it comes to river, forest, ocean, mountain protection. Perpetrators are still walking free and will continue to do so, if governments and the international community continue to not step in. It is no secret that with growing population the pressure upon natural resources, which are becoming scarcer and scarcer, is rising.

One of the most notorious of all the murders was the Berta Cáceres case that took place in Honduras, which was announced as the deadliest place to be an environmental activist. In 2015, she won a prestigious award which recognizes grassroots environmental activists from around the world – the Goldman Environmental Prize. She was not only an environmental campaigner and activist but also the head of the indigenous rights group Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous organizations of Honduras (COPINH). She was brutally murdered in her hometown La Esperanza, Honduras when gunmen broke into her home and shot her.

Months after the death of Berta Cáceres, another Goldman prize winner Isidro Baldenegro López got killed. He was a well-known leader of the Tarahumara community in Mexico’s northern mountain region and also a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for his campaign to protect local forests from deforestation by non-violent means in 2005.

“The killing of Isidro Baldenegro Lopez is a tragic illustration of the many dangers faced by those who dedicate their lives to defend human rights in Latin America, one of the most dangerous regions in the work for activists,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Global warming – global responsibility

Chasing communities off their land, destroying ecosystems and violating human rights are standard operating procedures for too many businesses around the world. Global Witness, which is a climate organization that investigates and exposes these crimes across the continents and is campaigning to end human rights abuses and environmental destruction.

Often global warming is talked about as it is a far-off scenario that only future generations will experience, predictions are being made using phrases such as “sea level rises within the century”, but the reality shows us that the effects of global warming are already present and future changes will only make the process more severe. Natural ecosystems nowadays are under a threat which is bigger than ever. Therefore environmental leaders, who can provide a plans of development which are sustainable and does not cost us the Earth, are needed more than ever before.

By Monta Christiana Nitisa

Photo credit:

Gun Club, Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0

Manifestación Berta Cáceres, Daniel Cima/CIDH, CC BY 2.0

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